[freebeard]

www.technologyreview.com/2023/10/04/1080128/2023-climate-tech-companies-blue-frontier-air-conditioning-energy-storage-climate-technology/

Blue Frontier’s approach has two steps: First, a salty mixture known as a desiccant sucks moisture out of the air, reducing its humidity. Then, some of that now-dry air moves past a wet surface. Water evaporates back into the dry air and lowers its temperature (a process known as evaporative cooling). That cooled air then passes by the remaining air in the system and cools it, too.

The company says this process makes its AC units three times more efficient than conventional systems and reduces their overall energy consumption by more than 60%.

The first step is likely some form of enthalpy wheel.

Thermal wheel

A thermal wheel, also known as a rotary heat exchanger, or rotary air-to-air enthalpy wheel, energy recovery wheel, or heat recovery wheel, is a type of energy recovery heat exchanger positioned within the supply and exhaust air streams of air-handling units or rooftop units or in the exhaust gases of an industrial process, in order to recover the heat energy. Wikipedia